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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27741871">The Ones That Died Here</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiGi/pseuds/LiGi'>LiGi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Era, Druids, Gen, Ghost Possession, My First AO3 Post, Round 1, Tumblr: tavernfest (Merlin), ghosts and haunting, i have no idea how these tags work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:29:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,235</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27741871</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiGi/pseuds/LiGi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>While travelling through the forest, Arthur, Merlin and Lancelot come across a creepy druid gravesite. Ever-curious Arthur touches one of the rune covered standing stones and accidentally unleashes the spirits of the dead druids. The spirits are intent on revenge for the person who killed them. Arthur Pendragon.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Tavernfest Round 1: Ghosts and Hauntings</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Ones That Died Here</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey Merlin fans!! This is my first time posting on Ao3!! Hopefully I've done it right!<br/>This was written for Tavernfest on Tumblr - round 1: Ghosts and Haunting!<br/>Not quite my usual thing, I don't normally like writing supernatural beings and stuff, but this was kinda fun!<br/>Anyway... hope you like it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was something eerie about this part of the forest. Merlin couldn’t work out exactly what it was. It felt cold. He pulled his jacket tighter around his chest but it made no difference. It was like the cold was on the inside, seeping into his very heart.</p><p>A solitary bird whistled a melancholy lament. It made the hairs on the back of Merlin’s neck stand up.</p><p>Lancelot’s arm brushed Merlin’s as he moved his hand to rest on the hilt of his sword, an uneasy expression on his face. He shot Merlin a questioning look, but Merlin could only shrug. They continued on through the trees, the rustle of leaves blowing in the wind the only sound.</p><p>Merlin noticed Arthur shiver. Then give himself a shake and glance slightly nervously over his shoulder, his eyes roving the trees.</p><p>“There’s something up ahead,” Lancelot said quietly, pointing through the trees.</p><p>He hesitated, looking to Arthur.</p><p>“We could just go back to Camelot?” Merlin suggested half-heartedly, chewing his lip. But he could see that Arthur’s curiosity had been piqued.</p><p>Arthur glanced at Lancelot, then hand-signalled him to move forward, but be on alert. Merlin frowned but followed them through the undergrowth.</p><p>Pushing through tall ferns they found themselves in a clearing full of standing stones. There were eleven stones, arranged in a loose line, ranging in size from knee-high ones either end of the line up to a tall one at the middle. At the base of each stone was a small mound and behind them a larger mound spread the length of all eleven stones.</p><p>“What is this place?” Arthur asked.</p><p>Merlin peered closer at the stones. Each had a small druid triskele symbol and a rune carved into them. The centre stone had three rows of runes. He wished he had Gaius’s rune book with him, he couldn’t remember the meanings of some of the shapes. But given the eerie feeling, which had begun to pluck at his magic, he could take a guess at some of them.</p><p>“I think it’s a druid grave site…” Merlin whispered.</p><p>Lancelot froze but curiosity got the better of Arthur and he stepped closer to examine the stones.</p><p>“Arthur, don’t –” Merlin said, just a second too late.</p><p>Arthur trailed his fingers along the symbol carved in the front of the tallest gravestone.</p><p>With a yelp he snatched his hand back as if burnt and a concussive whomp of magical power ricocheted out from the stone. It slammed into Merlin’s chest, knocking him clear off his feet. His ears rang with screams and he could feel his magic bubbling beneath his skin.</p><p>Merlin blinked to clear the swirling gold and white lights in his vision, struggling to sit back up. Lancelot was on his knees at Merlin’s side, his hands instantly reaching to help him up.</p><p>Arthur was staring shocked at Merlin, scrabbling away from the stone and to his feet, pulling his dagger and holding it up defensively in front of him.</p><p>“What happened?” he asked sharply.</p><p>“I… don’t…” Merlin looked around.</p><p>It had definitely been magic that had knocked him down. But there was no sign of another sorcerer around. Lancelot helped him stand and he turned in a full circle, his eyes raking over the tree line.</p><p>A white shape near the tallest stone caught his eye. But it vanished as soon as he looked directly at it.</p><p>“Arthur!” Lancelot shouted. He drew his sword and advanced a step towards the other side of the clearing. Then stopped and shook his head.</p><p>“What is it?” Arthur switched his dagger to his left hand and drew his sword as well. Merlin spun around. Another white flicker was gone before he could focus on it.</p><p>“I thought I saw…” Lancelot trailed off, squinting into the trees. “I don’t know.”</p><p>“A white figure?” Merlin asked.</p><p>There was a steady thrum of magic filling the clearing now, it felt heavy like fog, pushing against Merlin. His own magic hummed and prickled, his fingers itching with it.</p><p>And then the screaming started. Merlin’s hands flew to his head. The screaming was so loud, so piercing, it felt like his head would explode. He cried out and fell to his knees. He could hear the other two shouting, but their words were drowned out.</p><p>Lancelot’s hands were on his arms, holding him gently as he curled up and tried to block his ears. Not that it helped; the screams were inside his head, like how the druids spoke to him. Arthur closed in beside Merlin and Lancelot, his sword flashing as it swung in wide arcs, searching for the person attacking Merlin.</p><p>“Who’s there?” Arthur yelled. “Who’s doing this?”</p><p>The screaming intensified. Tears were streaming from Merlin’s eyes, magic that wasn’t his searing across his mind.</p><p>“I am Prince Arthur Pendragon and I command you to stop this attack!”</p><p>Merlin gasped as the screaming stopped, the sudden silence like a vacuum, pulling at his head until his ears popped. He collapsed into Lancelot’s arms.</p><p>“<em>Arthur Pendragon…</em>” an eerie voice hissed.</p><p>Arthur’s head whipped around, looking for the source.</p><p>The voice echoed around the clearing, repeated by other hissing whispers, spitting Arthur’s name like a curse. The anger in the whispers made Merlin flinch. His heart was racing as the voices grew louder.</p><p>Arthur buckled, the whispers bearing down on him, hammering at his head. He dropped his weapons to cover his ears, gasping and crying out as if in pain.</p><p>Lancelot got to his feet, standing protectively over Merlin and picking up his sword. He took a step closer to Arthur, glancing uncertainly at him.</p><p>“Arthur?” he asked hesitantly. His sword was raised but he couldn’t find anyone to hit with it.</p><p>Arthur roared, snatched up his sword again and whirled, slicing the air, his sword humming.</p><p>“Show yourself!”</p><p>A white shape flickered in the trees. Then another and another. A swarm of white translucent figures. Figures of men and women, children. They all had their mouths open in silent screams, their blank white eyes glowing with malevolence.</p><p>Merlin staggered to his feet.</p><p>“Who are you?” Arthur asked, his sword and dagger lifting to point at the figures.</p><p>“<em>We are the ones that died here. We are the ones you </em>killed<em> here.</em>”</p><p>The screaming started again, echoing around the clearing now, not just in Merlin’s head. Lancelot flinched and staggered back a step, lifting his sword higher even as terror clouded his face.</p><p>“<em>You killed us, Arthur Pendragon!</em>”</p><p>There was a hiss, and suddenly the ghosts were all shrieking, gliding towards them, entrapping them between the standing stones and the shimmering wall of figures. Arthur and Lancelot directed their swords at the ghosts, instinctively bending their knees into fighting stances. Merlin let his hands heat up with his magic, unsure if he could even use it against these spirits. He sent a silent wave of magic at them, trying to push them back, but it seemed to be absorbed by them, doing them no harm at all.</p><p>One spirit suddenly advanced, flying at Arthur. Arthur swung at it but his sword had no effect, skimming harmlessly through the figure. His weapons were forced from his hands and he yelled and reflexively curled his hands up in pain.</p><p>A ghostly hand wrapped around Arthur’s throat and pushed him backwards. Arthur scrabbled at the hand but his fingers passed straight through, the hand turning to wispy fog wherever he touched before reforming at his neck. His back was pressed against the tall stone that he’d touched earlier.</p><p>Lancelot sliced at it but his blade had no more effect than Arthur’s had. Arthur was gasping and choking as the other spirits screamed at him.</p><p>Merlin raised his hand up to chest height, clenched to a fist. He gathered his magic and flung his hand open, his palm shoving forwards with force. The ghostly figure flew back from Arthur.</p><p>There was a beat of silence as the ghosts stilled and then a murmur of <em>Emrys</em> swept around the clearing.</p><p>Merlin saw Lancelot shoot him a look, concern and dread mixing in his expression. Arthur staggered, clutching at his throat and Lancelot grabbed his arm to steady him. The eerie voice sounding again.</p><p>“<em>We would kill you, Arthur Pendragon. Like you slaughtered us. But Emrys won’t let us.</em>”</p><p>“Who is Emrys?” Arthur demanded, looking around the clearing.</p><p>“<em>He fights against us to protect you, Arthur Pendragon. Fights his own kind. For you.</em>”</p><p><em>I don’t want to fight you, </em>Merlin screamed in his head, trying to use the druids’ mindspeak. But either the spirits didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him.</p><p>“I don’t know Emrys,” Arthur shouted. “I didn’t ask him to fight you!”</p><p>The ghosts hissed. Arthur lurched forward, groaning as he bent double with pain. Merlin’s eyes flew over the ghostly figures, trying to find the cause of Arthur’s pain. All of the ghosts were staring at him blankly, spitting his name again.</p><p><em>Please stop! </em>Merlin cried.</p><p>“<em>Arthur Pendragon must pay for what he did here.</em>”</p><p>Arthur let out a yell through gritted teeth, his body shaking and his eyes screwed shut. The expression on his face was pure agony.</p><p>“I never wanted to kill you,” he cried.</p><p>“<em>And yet you did it anyway,</em>” the voice hissed. “<em>You kill mindlessly. Without reason. And now you shall be punished!</em>”</p><p>Suddenly Lancelot gasped and jerked forwards like he’d just been hit in the back with a crossbow bolt. He staggered, falling to his knees. Merlin ran to his side, gripping his shoulder and hastily checking him for an injury.</p><p>He threw his head back and screamed, high and piercing, not his own voice. His eyes were blank white.</p><p>“<em>We warned you, Emrys!</em>” he shrieked, planting a hand on Merlin’s chest and throwing him across the clearing.</p><p>Merlin’s head thudded to the floor, his back screaming in protest as he landed. All the air whooshed from his lungs and dark spots dotted his vision. He tried to sit up but reeled back again as his body didn’t respond properly to his command. The screaming was in his head again, louder even than before.</p><p>Lancelot turned to Arthur, the expression on his face blank and terrifying. He hefted his sword up, pulling his dagger out with his other hand. Both weapons had taken on a ghostly sheen.</p><p>“No,” Merlin cried weakly. He couldn’t move, magic that wasn’t his once more forcing itself into his head, burning his mind.</p><p>
  <em>We warned you, Emrys. Now watch them slaughter each other!</em>
</p><p>Lancelot charged at Arthur, whose sword was still on the ground several feet away. Arthur dove out of the way, struggling to reach his sword, his teeth gritted as he crawled across the ground. He just managed to get back to his feet as Lancelot sliced towards him again, his blade clashing against Lancelot’s.</p><p>Lancelot rained heavy furious blows down on Arthur, who spun and parried and pushed Lancelot back.</p><p>“Fight it, Lancelot!” he shouted. “Don’t let them use you!”</p><p>Lancelot faltered a step, as if trying to follow Arthur’s words. But it was futile. Merlin could see the image of the ghost’s visage behind Lancelot’s expression, the white eyes widening with fury.</p><p>“Your fight is with me!” Arthur yelled, his eyes roaming over the spirits encircling the two fighting men. “Leave him out of it!”</p><p>Lancelot stared with blank eyes at Arthur, taking a step towards him, but Arthur blocked him again. Hissing, Lancelot drew his sword back and attacked Arthur with renewed vigour. Arthur yelped, blocking a hard blow that almost knocked his sword from his hand. He kicked at Lancelot, his boot hitting Lancelot’s knee at precisely the right point to send him collapsing to the floor. But Lancelot rolled to the side and sprang back up, showing no sign of pain as he lunged again at Arthur.</p><p>Their swords locked together, Lancelot forcing Arthur back, his dagger coming up behind the locked swords to point at Arthur’s throat. Wrenching fiercely, Arthur pulled his sword away and turned, bringing it around in a large sweeping arc to knock the dagger from Lancelot’s hand.</p><p>It did nothing to slow Lancelot down, his sword flashing as it jabbed forwards at Arthur again. They resumed their dance. Lancelot attacking, Arthur desperately defending. A flurry of blows and Lancelot knocked Arthur’s blade aside, Arthur’s shoulder wrenching from the force, and Lancelot stepped into the advantage.</p><p>“No! Arthur!”</p><p>Merlin raised his hands, the effort to push against the force holding him making his head pound and his ears fill with a deep rushing sound. The magic shield he was creating was snuffed out and his back slammed down into the ground, smothering force compressing his lungs. He felt his magic draining away, sucked into the vacuum the spirits seemed to create.</p><p>
  <em>You can’t interfere, Emrys. This is Arthur Pendragon’s punishment.</em>
</p><p>Lancelot’s sword caught Arthur across the chest, sparking as the ghostly glowing blade sliced clean through his chainmail. He stumbled and fell to his knees, his hand slackening on his sword.</p><p>“<em>Do you want to die, Arthur Pendragon?</em>” Lancelot said in the high eerie voice that was not his own. He swung his sword threateningly down to point at Arthur’s throat.</p><p>“Please, let Lancelot go,” Arthur begged, reeling backwards.</p><p>“<em>We did not want to die. But you killed us anyway. Now he kills you.</em>”</p><p>“No,” Merlin cried brokenly. “Stop it, stop it!”</p><p>Ghostly figures converged on him, blocking him off from the others, surrounding him with their oppressive presence.</p><p>They were screaming again, wordless shrieks mixing with the hissed curse of Arthur’s name. Lancelot was mumbling along with them.</p><p>Arthur dragged himself backwards away from Lancelot, bumping into the standing stones behind him. He bent his head over the mounds at the feet of the stones.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he whispered, curling in on himself. “I’m sorry.”</p><p>Lancelot stepped closer.</p><p>Arthur yanked off his glove, slamming his bare hand onto the triskele on the tallest standing stone. The screaming stopped instantly. He staggered to his feet, looking around the clearing at the many ghostly figures.</p><p>“Please, stop!” he shouted. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for what happened here. Please believe…” He gasped and bent over in pain, his hand still planted to the triskele. “I did not want to kill you.”</p><p>A rippling hiss echoed around the clearing. The spirits shifting and drawing closer to Arthur.</p><p>“Please believe me,” he muttered again. He held up both hands, turning to face Lancelot, falling to his knees at his feet.</p><p>Lancelot raised his sword above his head.</p><p><em>NO!</em> Merlin felt like his head would burst from the force of his own internal shout. He could feel his eyes blazing gold, but the power radiating from him could not reach Arthur through the mist of the spirits’ translucent bodies.</p><p>However, Lancelot did not strike. His blank white eyes had dipped to Arthur’s face. His grip wavered.</p><p>Arthur’s eyes were unfocused, looking up at Lancelot, seeing past him to the spirit that possessed him.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he said brokenly, tears pooling in his eyes. They spilled over, cascading down his cheeks as his gaze roved over the many spectral shapes.</p><p>Lancelot’s sword fell from his hands and he keeled over, dropping like a deadweight. White wispy mist trailed up and away from him, solidifying into a figure who crouched in front of Arthur. The ghostly hand lifted his chin.</p><p>“<em>You have cried tears of true remorse, Arthur Pendragon. You have set our spirits free.</em>”</p><p>All around the clearing the figures of the ghosts seemed to blur, turning to mist and fading away, whispers of thanks murmuring around them.</p><p>Merlin finally found he could stand, scrabbling up and rushing to Arthur’s side. He knelt beside Arthur, placing a hand on his shoulder. Arthur looked over at him and Merlin gave him an encouraging smile.</p><p>“<em>Emrys is right to follow you, Arthur Pendragon,</em>” the eerie voice said, the crouching figure getting up and walking towards the standing stones. It turned back to look at Arthur, nodding. “<em>One day you shall make a great King.</em>”</p><p>The spectre laid a hand on the triskele and vanished.</p><p>Arthur slumped, his head falling to his hand, the other wrapping around his chest. Merlin gently pulled his shoulder up so he could look at the cut across his chest. It looked almost healed already, the skin knitted back together and just a thin white line marking where it had been. If it wasn’t for the blood around the scar and staining Arthur’s sliced chainmail it would have looked like an old wound.</p><p>“I’m fine, Merlin,” Arthur rasped, pushing him off. “Check Lancelot.”</p><p>As Merlin moved away to Lancelot’s prone body, gently turning him over and resting his head on his lap, Arthur picked up his sword and shuffled over to the standing stones.</p><p>Merlin watched as Arthur laid the sword over the mound at the base of the tallest stone, bowing his head.</p><p>“I apologise from the deepest depth of my heart. You were wronged.  I will do all in my power to see nothing like this ever happens again.”</p><p>“<em>Thank you…</em>” A cool breeze blew through the clearing, ruffling Arthur’s hair and pulling a small smile to his face, tears still dripping off his chin. It warmed Merlin’s heart.</p><p>Arthur kissed his palm, pressing it reverently against the triskele on the stone. It left a small smudge of blood behind as he took it away again. Taking a deep breath, Arthur pushed himself to his feet and came over to where Merlin bent over Lancelot.</p><p>Merlin ran his fingers through Lancelot’s hair, brushing it back off his face. He could feel Lancelot’s breath puffing against his palm but he hadn’t opened his eyes.</p><p>Arthur laid a hand on Lancelot’s shoulder.</p><p>“Is he alright?” he asked Merlin quietly.</p><p>Merlin grimaced. “I think so. I won’t know until he wakes up. I don’t know if being possessed by a ghost hurts?”</p><p>“It does…” Lancelot’s voice was cracked and weak. He shifted slightly in Merlin’s arms, groaning.</p><p>Arthur’s grip on his shoulder tightened and Merlin noticed Lancelot trying not to wince. He peeled his eyes open, squinting up at Arthur.</p><p>“I’m so sorry, Sire.”</p><p>“It was my fault, not yours.”</p><p>Arthur gave Lancelot’s shoulder a little shake. Merlin rolled his eyes, putting a hand over Arthur’s to still it.</p><p>“Don’t jostle him,” he chastised. Arthur loosened his hold, giving Lancelot the gentlest of pats on the chest.</p><p>“We need to get him back to Camelot.”</p><p>Arthur helped Merlin lift Lancelot to his feet. Merlin wrapped an arm around his waist, the other steadying his chest, pulling Lancelot’s arm over his shoulders. He could tell Lancelot was trying not to lean too much weight on him.</p><p>“Relax, I’ve got you,” he murmured to his friend. Lancelot sagged against him.</p><p>“Are you alright, Merlin?” he asked, tilting his head to Merlin’s shoulder so he could whisper without Arthur hearing. “They took your magic?”</p><p>“Only blocked it, it’s back now.”</p><p>He let magical heat flow into his hands, warm against Lancelot’s waist and chest, turning his head and letting his forehead bump Lancelot’s so that Arthur wouldn’t notice his eyes glowing gold. Lancelot smiled.</p><p>Arthur had picked up Lancelot’s sword, tucking it into his own belt, leaving his own by the stones. As they walked away from the clearing Merlin noticed Arthur look back, once, over his shoulder and nod.</p>
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